The Reign of Captain Lucky
by Blueshade Seraphim
Summary: “Every rose has its thorn”. And when dealing with the charming but deadly queen of the seven seas, that saying couldn’t be more true. Join Dahlia and Morgana, on a plunderous quest to bring down Lady Luck’s most favored felon.


In the waters of Eastern Europe, there was one pirate who made even Blackbeard himself look like a common crook by comparison. A certain gentleman pirate, and the leader of the feared vessel of the sea: The Rose Cartel. The legends are vast. Saying that The Rose Cartel always left a shining trail of riches in its wake, because the treasure horde was starting to weigh it down. This pirate was one who could run- NO! Dance, through roaring flames without a care in the world. An elegant but deadly daredevil of the sea, who fought more-so for thrill than wealth. And this pirate's name was Captain Lucky. So called, because they possessed a strange ability that bordered on magic itself. But while their name was respected by all who dared to brave the waters, very few knew that this unstoppable one man crusade was in fact, not a man at all...

Lucky sat in her quarters, leaning back in her chair in the carefree manner she always did. She had a pretty face, and long black hair. Green eyes, and dressed in a red uniform with gorgeous streaks of purple around the ends. But her defining article of clothing was the eyepatches: black, with a rose design painted on it, in honor of her proud vessel. She wasn't actually missing an eye, but rather, saw it as a means of making her fights a bit more fair. She rested her feet on her desk, taking in the sound of the waves outside. Who'd ever have thought? Once the smothered and miserable noble, Gwendal Pascelious, to the queen of the seven seas. Yes, out here she felt free. This was her home, and she was never going back. She heard a knock on her door. "Come in." The one who entered was her first mate: Robert Grieth. He dressed in all-black, and while his muscles didn't seem as intimidating as many anticipate, as the bouncer of The Rose Cartel, he is tall and imposing all the same. Having a gruff, but still even-tempered voice. "Captain."

Lucky sat up straight in her chair as she shifted some dice in her hand. "Ah, Robby. Make yourself at home~ Have a seat, and tell me what's on your mind, baby." She always found amusement in flirting with him. Especially since it was clear he had a thing for her. "We... about the letter we received from that British Navy captain... are you certain this is a smart idea?" Lucky smirked and stood up, looking at a painting they stole off a merchant ship. A beautiful painting of some ritzy architecture in Florence. "Meeting up for a battle with jolly good England? Come on, you know I don't turn down a challenge." Robert sighed. "Captain, this isn't just a light raid, you've garnered the attention of people who might end up pushing that luck of yours." For dramatic effect, Lucky turned her heel and tossed her dice onto the desk from across the room. Not only did they not tumble off it, but they landed on double sixes. "Pushing my luck? Pfft. Have you forgotten who we are, Robby?" To his shock, she then tossed him her pistol.

Robert just looked at it in confusion. "Take aim and fire." Robert stood up, reluctantly holding it as it slowly dawns on him what she's asking him to do. "Lucky..." Lucky folded her arms. "That's an order." Robert hesitantly obliged, pointing the barrel at her and pulling the trigger. She had done this several times to amuse her peers, and even her enemies, but it always made him nervous to say the least. And just like all those times before it, the bullet was on a straight path towards her, before it inexplicably veered out of the way as if being propelled by magnets. "See? This peacock still has her feathers." Robert put the pistol on the desk and sat back down. Prompting Lucky to do the same. His concerned expression silently pleading with her. She sighed. "Look, if things get too crazy, I have every intention of turning tail and escaping. I wanna test us against the best in the world, that's all." He didn't seem convinced, but he did find some ease in that promise. "Understood. We will set sail by daybreak, Captain." He then politely left, as Lucky adjusted the feather in her hat. "Heehee. He's cute, when he's trying to be all protective."

**Meanwhile, further below deck...**

What did she ever do to deserve this? It's not exactly like she was treated badly, aside from Jailer's constant rambling, but she didn't wanna be here. She wanted to go home. Dahlia Descoz was a girl who had had a pretty good life up to now. She was born into a wealthy family, and never asked for much out of her perview. She was aspiring to become a singer one day, and she had recently received her first gig entertaining the workers on the S.S Maribelle. She was enjoying her first time on a boat, and it was going so well! And of all the things that could befall her, the ship gets raided by Captain Lucky! She had every right to be as upset as she was, obviously having no means of defending herself against a band of pirates. And so when she was captured, some of that anger ended up immersing in the form of badmouthing the pirate that caught her, appropriately nicknamed "Jailer".

...Which turns out was a very bad decision, because now she's stuck in a cell, watched over by this loser, and he _never shuts up. _He was the skinniest of the crew, and had this stupid sunny grin on his face at all times, which showed off that he was missing a tooth. He had a bandanna on, and wore mostly dirt brown. (Thankfully, it appeared that was its intended color). And ever since she's been here, he'd come in and out during the day and tell stories to his literal captive audience. On and on, about the time he smashed one of his foes with a barrel, or how he swung across the deck on a rope to boot a British soldier overboard. Uggghhh. Her blue dress was tattered and messy at this point, but it was all she had. Even if some of the female crew offered her something else to wear, she was NOT sharing a wardrobe with filthy pirates. Her hair was short, and blonde, and she had blue eyes. Her skin was pale, and what was left of her dress wasn't particularly poofy or overly elaborate.

"...So I told 'im, _'If yer so good, lemme see ye work', _and to the serprise'a no one, his fingers were in tatters by the time he went home. Haha! Senile old fool, that Retherford was." He chuckled, sitting on his chair backwards and taking a gulp out of his sud-filled mug. "Do you ever actually do anything useful? Because it sounds to me like you don't have anything better to do than yamber on and on." He rested his chin on the chair. "Lissun, lassy: you should be grateful it wuz me who's found yah. The others probably wouldn't have taken yer kicken and screemin' too kindly." He then leaned closer to her, and put a hand up to his face, even though no one else was there but them. "See, the cap'n dusn't like you spoiled rich types. But it's jus' against me code to go out hurtin' a purdy lady." Dahlia then spit in his face, to emphasize her disrespect. He casually wiped it off, and stood up. "Welp, it seems 'ike it's about time te settle in fer da night. You know the drill by now." And so, he blew out his lantern and walked away.

It felt relieving to finally have some peace and quiet, but it was no secret she wanted to be out of this rusty old cell. It was small, and it was barren. If she ever gets out of here, she's never leaving the comfort of dry land ever again. She layed back on what could barely be defined as her 'bed'. "I'll get out of here... I don't know how, or why, but I'll get out of here." To pass the time, as she restlessly idled on the ground, she started singing one of her personal favorite songs: 'Soldier, Poet, King'. Eventually she successfully tired herself into submission.

**A few days later...**

Lucky stood triumphantly on the bow of The Rose Cartel. Breathing in the fresh air of the ocean. The wind was very generous to them today, but that was no surprise, considering her gift. For the coming battle, she had gathered her posey: 'The Carnations'. She thought up the name herself. 5 ships of her previously conquered foes, now serving as her loyal armada of pirates. Pirates were so easy to bribe. Especially to one as successful in the looting business as herself. And once she got more than one crew under her wing, it became easier to keep the threat of mutiny in check. Of course, if you looked at her confident expression, you wouldn't guess that she and her family in arms were approaching a fierce battle with a few big shots from the British fleet.

Robert walked up to her. "Favorable weather, cannons loaded and ready for firing, so far so good." She turned to face her fellow swashbuckler. "See? No need for concern. We've dealt with these guys before. Most of them are just glorified in powdered wigs." She got out her sword, and twirled it around. Carved into its hilt was a dazzling red gemstone. Hades' Eye, was its name. It was no mystery at all why Vincent placed such care in it. It was thanks to him she was what she was now, and for that she was eternally grateful. "Captain! Ships on the horizon, as expected!" One of her crew mates, Mavis, alerted from the crow's nest. Lucky looked through her spyglass, and confirmed her declaration. "Five of them... That's strange. Why would they have less ships than us?" Robert walked over to his station, "Let's see how far luck can carry you, Captain." Not long after the two factions got into firing distance of one another, cannonballs were being blasted through the air. The sea was ablaze that day, as both sides edged into boarding distance of one another.

Lucky leaped onto the flagship, taking the offensive as always. She slides under one of the soldier's muskets, and kicked the back of his knees, forcing them to buckled as she buried his face into the wooden floor with her other foot. Bullets whizzed by her, but all either missed her completely, or found their way to other targets. Robert was fighting horses of enemies on The Rose Cartel, preferring to fight defensively. But while he was strong, his sight doesn't extend everywhere. One of his foes took advantage of his distracted state to slip by with relative ease, especially since most of the rest of the crew were off kicking ten shades out of the opposition...

**In the brig...**

"...So I wus like, _'don't pollute the ocean with yer corpse', _and blasted the sucker te kingdom come with my cannon. You can probably guess it became a favorite story among my tavern buddies." Dahlia rolled her eyes, and tuned him out. Of course, it never took long for him to notice when she was ignoring him, but it did help to some degree. He sighed, "How're you expectin' to find a man, if ya have no sense of humor whatsoever? Some blokes just doe know how to raise 'ere kids." Dahlia groaned. "If they had the stomach, I'd feed you to the sharks at the first opportunity." He licked his lips. "I love it when they play hard te get." They then heard something from down the hall. "Well, ye did wanted to see me prove my fightin' skill. Enjoy the show, lassie." He took a few steps forward, his sword at the ready. From down the hallway, he heard glass shattering. "Heh. Child's play." He ran over, and turned the corner to catch whoever was here, but to his surprise, all he found was a shattered lantern... with a dagger in it! It was a trick!

Before he could react, he got a a neck full of glass, as his attacker had smashed a bottle on him. He tried to distance himself and survey the best course of action, but this guy was like a blur! Inching in on him at every step and beating the scurvy out of him in the process. Finally, he decided to throw caution to the wind and started striking wildly with his sword to kill before he's killed, but his ineffective flailing only won him the embarrassment of watching his opponent disarm him, and take his sword for himself! Or rather... _her_self. "Amateur." And with an X slash with both swords, down he went. Jailer was dead. Dahlia wasn't quite able to see what happened, but she was relieved someone was here other than pirates. As her savior walked into view, she saw it was a woman in white gear, that made her look like a rogue. She styled her red hair in a short but neat fashion, and was equipped with a rapier. She almost felt somewhat intimidated by her. "M-might I ask you your name?" The woman didn't respond. Instead, unlocking her cell with the key she took off of Jailer.

"I'm certain I don't need to inform you time is not a commodity we have right now. Stay close to me, and don't draw attention to yourself." Her voice was very cold and calculating, but that was understandable, given the situation. Going topside, the brightness of the sun and the explosive sound of the cannon rang out through the air. It was complete chaos! But what mattered right now was that Robert was less occupied. And that meant it was time to get creative, if they wanted to get out of here. "Who in Davy Jones are you supposed to be?" The woman readied her two swords. "Change of plans. When I start fighting, make a break for it." Dahlia was quickly becoming terrified. "What!? Where am I supposed to go!?" But the woman wasn't able to answer her question, before Robert charged at her. Blades clashed, as the woman tried to use her speed to overwhelm the tank of a man. "Just go!" Dahlia could only watch as the two dukes it out, the woman rolling under one of Robert's swings, and throwing him off balance. Then sideswiping him off his feet and onto the floor. Dahlia hesitantly started looking for a safer place to go, with little success.

The woman drove her swords down on him, pinning him to the floor with her legs, but to her horror he grabbed them both. Even though they were cutting into his palms, he still showed little signs of surrender. "I will not allow anyone to pose a threat to the captain." He then head butted her, and rolled them around to switch their positions. The woman's swords being the only thing putting a distance between his, and her skin. "An honorable pirate... is still a pirate." She was slowly having her own weapons pressed against her neck. The situation looked grim. "If that's how you feel, I won't rob that of you. But you must be subdued nonetheless." Just when all looked hopeless, Dahlia came in with a dagger and plunged it into Robert's back, catching him off guard enough for the woman to boot the titan of a man off of her. She didn't ask questions, and got to her feet. "Follow me, now! He won't stay down for long!" Dahlia gulped and leaped with her across the ships. They were frantically scurrying through the chaos, but it went without saying that big and scary wasn't too far behind them. But at the halfway mark to their escape, a cannonball ripped apart the floor Dahlia was standing on, causing her to just barely catch herself on the railing.

The woman rushed over, and helped her up as a soldier went flying into the drink. And the origin of said occurrence made matters even worse. "You...!" Captain Lucky proclaimed, in disbelief at seeing the woman. "As much as I'd like to carve you a new one here and now, I have a job to do. Shake a leg, kid! Move!" If Dahlia wasn't in peril right now, she would be thankful her dress's reduced length made it easier to run. "Oh no you don't. Men! After them!" Lucky was occupied by a duel with the opposing captain, but some of her men were more or less available to carry out her order. The air was soon disturbed by a brigade of bullets, as they fleed for their lives. But despite the odds, they managed to reach the side of one of their ships, where a much smaller and faster boat awaited in the water below. "How are we gonna get down there!?" Dahlia asked, her body shaking from fear. The woman then climbed up the net as quickly as she could, and cut it near the middle. Causing it to fall, and creating a safe means of descending to their escape boat. Unfortunately, their pursuers has caught up, and Dahlia had no time to climb down.

Nowhere else to go, she swallowed hard. "Darn it all...!" She jumped off the ship, screaming all the way down. And while she was thankfully caught by her new friend, her legs were now reduced to jelly. The two of them hurried and sailed away, the pirates having neglected their original opponents for too long to try to harm them any further. Once they were at a safe distance, Dahlia finally caught her breath. "Ogh... I think I just threw up in my mouth a little..." The woman steered them as far away from the attention of the carnations as possible. "Don't worry, you'll live. I have to say, that was an impressive display for a first timer, kid." Dahlia would have retorted, but she didn't have the stamina, nor the mental energy to do so. Choosing to stay silent. That was the most horrifying thing she's ever experienced, but she is indeed alive. And free, at that. The woman smiled. "Morgana." Dahlia looked up at her. "Huh...?" She smiled. "My name is Morgana. I'm a mercenary. The crown hired me." Dahlia only felt more confused by that. "To... save me? Why?" Morgana exhaled. "That's a story for when we get back home. Besides, you've been through enough for today." Dahlia rubbed her eyes weakly. Heh. That did sound very enticing, actually. "You have my gratitude. I would never have made it through that on my own." Morgana smirked. "Oh? Maybe not now. But you have potential." Dahlia didn't care about what she meant by that. All she wanted was a break from the chaos. So she promptly went to sleep. Even a wooden boat felt heavenly, with how exhausted she was...


End file.
